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updated 1/13/2003
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FROM THE STRATHSPEY AND BADENOCH HERALD (1/24/2002)
CAMANS SWINGING IN CALIFORNIA - ALL YEAR
In the San Francisco Bay area of Northern California they have solved the debate over whether shinty should be played in the winter or summer - they simply play all year round, writes John Robertson.
Although there has been a club there since the early 1980s, the past year has seen major progress and the establishment of a thriving outfit which intends to send four six-a-side teams around the Highland Games circuit next summer.
Their story is particularly unusual. Nearly 20 years ago one of their players read a description of the ancient sport of Camanachd in Dr. I. F. Grant's book Highland Folk Ways.
For a number of years a group of players then played exhibition matches with hand-carved camans in as close a re-enactment of Dr. Grant's description as they could construct.
In 1983, a visit to Scotland by player Michael Bentley resulted in him returning to the American West Coast with a few Munro Camans, some modern leather shinty balls, and an up-to-date rule book.
Two teams were quickly set up, known as the North Tacks and the South Tacks (as a reminder of the old clan system), and training began in earnest in Fremont, which is 30 miles south of UC Berkeley, and in Santa Clara.
During 2001, the club has gone from strength to strength and now describe themselves as being "beyond the wishful thinking stage."
Two small incentives have recently added inspiration to their considerable efforts.
Firstly, Alasdair Cameron from Aberdeen sent them a video of a recent Camanachd Cup Final, and secondly, Jane Patrick from Campbeltown has been guiding their training sessions since she moved to the San Francisco area.
Some of the players travel up to two hours to attend training and the entire squad live across a huge area on the west coast.
As with any successful club, they have a healthy social camaraderie and enjoy Scottish dancing and Highland music.
The club have made it clear that any Scottish team wishing to make a visit to California would be most welcome.
